battling over the fiscal cliff. but now there's yet another heated debate. a wild year in office for baker. we go on one-on-one with the county executive. i'm wendy rieger. >> and i'm jim vance. tonight, president obama issued yet another warning to republicans, do not use the fiscal cliff to start a fight over the debt ceiling. the u.s. could reach its debt ceiling by the end of the month, and risk defaulting on its loans early next year. house speaker john boehner today said, quote, we don't have time for the president to continue shifting the goal posts. we need to solve this problem. danielle lee now joins us from capitol hill with more on this story tonight. danielle? >> reporter: jim, good evening. we're just now learning that president obama spoke to house speaker john boehner by phone this afternoon. but we're not hearing of any progress on avoiding the fiscal cliff or on raising the nation's debt ceiling which is currently at $16.4 trillion. there are new concerns about what could happen to the

country's credit rating in the new year. each day toward the fiscal cliff is also another day closer to the country maxing out on its borrowing limit. president obama talked to business leaders today. >> the only thing that the debt ceiling is good for as a weapon is to destroy your credit rating. >> reporter: he's worried republicans may re newsto raise the country's debt ceiling to get their way on spending cuts and risk defaulting on the country's loans. >> that is a bad strategy for america. it's a bad strategy for your businesses. and it is not a game that i will play. >> reporter: republicans are pushing back. >> he's the president, not the emperorer. >> reporter: fiscal cliff negotiations have been at a stand still since monday when republicans proposed raising revenue by closing tax loopholes, not by raising rates on the rich as the president has insisted. >> we're not insisting rates just out of spite, but rather because we need to raise a certain amount of revenue.

>> we can't just keep borrowing money, raising taxes, and expecting the problem to go away. >> reporter: house members headed home for a long weekend with democrats so far unsuccessful in their efforts to force a vote on a bill that would extend tax cuts to 98% of americans. but house speaker john boehner said he's here, and all ears. >> i'll be available at any moment to sit down with the president if he gets serious about solving this problem. >> reporter: 26 days out, and the waiting continues. with no deal in sight, the white house budget office is now ordering the pentagon and other federal agencies to finalize their plans for surviving massive spending cuts. reporting live on capitol hill, danielle lee, news4. in fact, the pentagon is already putting a plan in place if there is no deal by january 1st. the preliminary plan is to cut $500 billion in jobs and programs. a spokesman for the pentagon said it could force the defense department to abandon its new

military strategy. it could affect spending on weapons and technology programs, and on how the military provides for the troops. two fbi raids in arlington today. officers searched the seventh floor of a building in the 1900 block of fort meyer drive that houses the university of management and technology, a private university. it offers associate, bachelor and master degree programs. cardboard has been placed on the university's windows. officers also searched a town home on 21st road in arlington. the fbi confirms it did serve two search warrants. it will not say what it is looking for. police in virginia think somebody wanted the money in an atm and set a bomb to get it. the blast in fredericksburg, virginia, this morning did not do anything to the cash machine at virginia credit union, except give it a few burn marks. a bomb squad technician checked out the scene to make sure it was safe. the bank stayed open all day. police say there is surveillance

video of the incident from about 4:00 this morning. they have not made any arrests at this point. gang violence may be responsible for the murder of a teenager in prince george's county. he was 14 years old and he was shot early this morning in louisdale. pat collins is live at the police headquarters where they're trying to piece together exactly what happened. pat? >> reporter: wendy, a 14-year-old hanging out with gang members ends up dead, shot and killed in a drive-by. the victim, eliez reyes. he goes by the name of cheche. reyes shot and killed this morning. he was 14 years old. police describe it as a gang-related murder. here's why. >> we've determined that the victim was with at least two known gang members early this morning when the murder occurred. >> was the victim involved in the gang? >> at this point we're still

working to determine whether that's the case or not. >> reporter: the scene, sheridan street in louisdale. it was after midnight. police say reyes and some gang members were outside. that a van pulls up and then -- then gunfire. floyd bennett lives across the street. he was home when it happened. >> i heard five shots. sounded like a machine gun. then i went to the door, and then i heard the people screaming across the street. it was like a lady said, breathe. somebody -- she called his name, i can't get his name. but she said, breathe. and she said, you know, so i called the police. >> reporter: reyes lives on amhurst street about a half mile from the shooting scene. no one at the house wanted to talk about the incident today. now police have recovered the drive-by van. they have some strong leads in this case. they're working hard to track

down the killer. live in prince george's county, i'm pat collins, news4. thank you, pat. less than an hour ago a judge ruled against both people fighting for a vacated maryland state delegate seat. tiffany austin had been removed from that seat after being convicted of stealing from the general assembly. maryland governor martin o'malley withdrew his nomination for greg hall, after news of hall's criminal past involving guns. the judge says the circumstances of the case do little for the reputation of maryland or prince george's county. the next steps will be determined in the coming days. in the past two years, prince george's county has seen some major changes. but when the man at the helm, baker, took office, it had been shrouded in scandal. our prince george's county bureau chief tracee wilkins sat down with baker to talk about his first couple of years in office. >> what were the first few days like for you? >> yeah, i mean, very hectic.

>> when prince george's county executive baker entered office two years ago, the county was in the center of a storm. >> you kick off january with 14 murders in 14 days. and a snowmageddon. it made it look like i had wished for the wrong position. >> baker was sworn in one month after former county executive johnson was indicted on federal charges for operating a pay-to-play scheme with developers in the county. >> there was an fbi investigation going on. they would not tell us who was under investigation. so we really couldn't take any chances. >> new police chief, fire chief and other changes in top levels of county government. >> i never envisioned that we would have to completely start the government all over again. >> after running three times to get into office, baker is now halfway through his first term. >> we're hitting our stride now. we're seeing a lot of things accomplish sgld he kept his

promise for economic development breaking ground on a number of commercial projects on the northern and southern ends of the county, including the new tanger outlets near national harbor, and of course, the new casino. for which baker risked a huge amount of political capital. >> it was a huge risk. if we lost, it would put me in a very bad position, both here at home in prince george's county, but also in annapolis. >> crime is down. he closed two budget deficits, and now has hopes for the fbi to follow. he says its focus has been on making the county more business friendly. >> those who especially thought that there was a pay-for-play here, and that they didn't want to do business here, i wanted to have something that would say to them, you know what, maybe we should take a chance on prince george's county. >> the county executive says for the rest of his term, his first priority, education, and improving the prince george's county school system. he says he knows for sure that

he's running for a second term. in prince george's county, tracee wilkins, news4. the brother of former d.c. council chairman kwame brown has been charged with bank fraud, the same charge that led kwame brown to resign his council seat earlier this year. according to the charging documents, che brown made false claims about his income on a mortgage loan application back in 2010. his lawyer says brown plans to plead guilty. che brown also pleaded guilty to a similar charge back in 1995. one of the world's biggest banks announced today it will cut jobs and close some branches. citigroup plans to lay off about 11,000 workers worldwide. most of those cuts will be in consumer banking. about 80 branches around the world are closing. more than half of them in the united states. and that includes a citibank in manassas and glen burne. citigroup's stock went up after this announcement. executives say the cuts will help them save about $1 billion

a year. warm around here it seems for quite some time. but that now is about to change. veronica, is that right? >> that's right. it was all from this morning's cold front. there it is, moving through. we sure didn't get much rain out of it. but everybody is going to get cold. so what is it going to feel like tomorrow morning when you head out? i'll have my forecast in a few. next at 6:00, chaos in cairo. angry protesters are now turning on each other. new signs tonight of global warming. we'll show you the shrinking of arctic ice. we'll tell you why the hall of fame now wants robert griffin iii's jersey and his cleats from monday night's game against the giants. and maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks. we're going to take you for a ride with this canine behind the wheel at news4 at 6:00.

in egypt, people are getting ever more angry over president mohamed morsi. supporters and protesters fought outside the presidential palace in cairo today. about 60 people were injured. some of them threw fire bombs and rocks. others were beaten with sticks. the protests began nearly two weeks ago when morsi claimed for himself sweeping powers.

three of morsi's advisers quit today. his vice president said he would be open to talking to the protesters, but opposition leaders say that could only happen after morsi re sinds his decree assuming all those powers. the united states is taking a role in syria's civil war as the battle for the capital city of damascus intensifies. this video claims to show warplanes dropping bombs over damascus. rebels have overrun two air bases, captured a hydroelectric dam. nato is sending patriot missiles to turkey. secretary of state hillary rodham clinton said assad's regime is a threat to millions of innocent people. >> our concerns are increasingly desperate assad regime might turn to chemical weapons. or might lose control of them to one of the many groups that are now operating within syria.

>> secretary clinton said the u.s. and nato countries plan to announce more action on syria next week. cuban officials say the u.s. government is lying about the health of allen gross. the potomac resident who has been in a cuban resident since 2009. it's concerned he may have cancer according to his wife. today the cuban foreign ministry disputed those reports that gross' health was deteriorating. they say he's been examined by a qualified cuban doctors. cuba is looking for concessions for five cuban agents who are serving sentences in the united states. there is new information tonight about the changing conditions in the arctic. that frozen area is quite a ways from us here, but jay gray explains why experts believe that the changes there are affecting the weather here and everywhere else.

>> reporter: in is an almost haunting beauty to the barren fields of snow and ice that stretch for miles across the arctic. but scientists say the landscape is slowly but steadily melting away. >> if we're not already there, we're on the verge of seeing a new arctic. >> reporter: in an online web conference, noaa released the latest data that shows an increasing water temperature and record lows in the amount of snow and ice in the region. >> we are surely on the verge of seeing a new arctic. we can expect to see continued widespread and sustained change with new record highs and record lows, depending on the variable you're looking at. throughout the arctic environment system. >> reporter: 97% of the ice sheet covering greenland, another record, that area losing ice five times faster now than it was in the early '90s. >> we know that melting of ice in greenland can contribute to sea level rising around the

world. >> reporter: in the last two decades those levels have grown by 20%. a trend scientists say long-term could be devastating. >> most of the people around the world live in coastal areas. that's where ports are. and they are at sea level. even small changes in sea level rise can displace millions of people. >> reporter: a group that includes more than half of the u.s. population, which lives within 50 miles of the coast. jay gray, nbc news. what do you think? >> for sure, the more we really need to talk about this as a global problem. but for sure, with any weather event we're in, it just does put an exclamation mark behind it. we need to do what we can do to get ahead of it. >> the pictures are certainly telling. >> right. very telling and it's only when we get those big storms, those superstorms, where i think folks really take note. not always when we see the ice melting in the arctic.

>> we have a lot of coast lands. >> that is very true. >> and we had some unseasonably warm weather this week. >> that, we have. it's been wiped out. it certainly will be by later tonight by the cold front that came through this morning. the winds have been stirring up out of the northwest, those have been starting to settle down. the sky already clear. it's going to be starry and rather chilly for your evening. we saw a high today of 63 degrees. but that high temp came right before 5:00 this morning. we started out in the 60s, temps dropped to right now 53 degrees. that puts us with a low temp for the day. the average high 50 degrees. tomorrow likely to be our coolest day in over a week. so get ready. northwest wind at 18 miles per hour. we've seen gusts up to 30 miles per hour today. and those gusts right now throughout the mid-atlantic, they continue to drop. we've seen the high gusts in

pennsylvania, down through areas of northern virginia and even west virginia. but the wind will settle down as high pressure moves in. the numbers behind you, your neighborhood getting cold by tomorrow morning. leesburg and sterling at 46 degrees. we've got 50 degrees in warrenton. 53 right now in d.c., takoma park, into areas around winchester, and martinsburg already at 45 degrees. up to the north, 30s showing up, and here it is, not even 7:00. buffalo, new york, below freezing. chicago, illinois, at 36 degrees. and 34 in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. that's where it is right now. cold. and by later tonight, tomorrow morning, dropping into the 20s. here we'll drop to 34 inside the beltway. other locations, down into the 20s. still not looking at any big, big storms, or cold waves coming into our area. our jet stream right now to the north. we'll go from cool conditions,

to cold conditions by tomorrow morning. and then as we get into friday, still a little on the cool side as well. so the next two days, cool, but not this upcoming weekend. we do have something else to deal with this weekend. chilly conditions it is for the evening. coats back on by tomorrow morning. probably all buttoned up, too. we've got high pressure that's going to move in. loads of sunshine. pennsylvania down through virginia tomorrow. so very much like december with that chill in the air. then the next front comes into our area. it's a front that's going to sit around for quite some time. some light showers north of d.c. on friday. up across areas of frederick, maryland, western maryland, certainly through west virginia. then as that front comes in, it will stall around our area for the weekend. our best chance of rain right now, i think saturday morning. so saturday is not looking wet for the entire day. and then more showers possible on sunday. 36 to 44 degrees for tomorrow morning. again, cold. sunrise at 7:13. once the sun comes up, a little

bit of warming. but not very much. here it is on your four-day forecast. the high temp for tomorrow, 47 degrees. clouds on friday. but i think very little rain. for your weekend, 65 on saturday. our wind on saturday will be southwest. we have showers in the morning. so it's the afternoon on saturday. right now it looks like we could salvage. 60% chance of rain for sunday. i think the rain on sunday could come anytime during the day. the high 55, with a northeasterly wind. so this weekend will be not terribly cold, but still a little wet around the area. >> okay. thanks, veronica. >> you bet. a difficult rescue from the top of a water tower. this was near philadelphia. one man spent three hours dangling from his safety harness inside the tank before the rescuers could get to him. a worker who was with him fell to his death when he hit the bottom of the tank. they were performing maintenance on this empty tower just before noon. and officials are still working to find out how this happened.

former president george herbert walker bush is well enough now to take on increased physical therapy activities. the 41st president has been at methodist hospital in houston since the day after thanksgiving. he's suffering from a persistent cough stemming from bronchitis. that ailment is painful, but not life-threatening. mr. bush is now 88 years old. longtime former texas congressman jack brooks died in beaumo beaumont, texas today. his career spanned 43 years. he was in the dallas motorcade on november 22nd, 1963, when president john f. kennedy was assassinated. brooks also was there as lyndon b. johnson was sworn in as president. brooks died yesterday after a sudden illness. he was 89 years old. his birth date was next week. still ahead, brothers hitch a ride overnight in montgomery county and one ends up dead. the latest on a bizarre

hit-and-run. a contractor criticized on yelp and angie's list for a job. tonight a judge in fairfax ruled on free speech on the internet versus a worker's reputation. the intercounty connector is one year old. how much is it really being used? this is chris gordon. would you drive the icc if tolls were cut in half? i'll have a report ahead. coming up in sports, rg3 getting ready for what could be his toughest test yet. on the hilltop, the hoyas basketball team not the only team turning heads. and the wizards take down the defending champions, but the win might not be as surprising as you think.

the police are looking for a driver who ran down two people who were walking in gaithersburg, maryland. one of them was killed. montgomery county police say the victims were brothers. they were hit about 1:00 this morning on west diamond avenue. a short time later police found a car, a black honda civic abandoned outside an auto parts store nearby. the windshield and hood had been caved in. the victim told police he and his brother got a ride from somebody in that black honda and believes it was the same car that hit them.

an accomplished government employee was killed in that row house fire in northwest. it started last night at a home on first street. police found 42-year-old jeffrey meeterostac unconscious inside the home. he worked for international development. his work has taken him around the world to 40 different countries. investigators still searching for the cause of the blaze. the intercounty connector has been open for a year now. some people believe more drivers would use it if the tolls were cheaper. chris gordon reports now the highway officials are now weighing in on that idea. they say give it some time. >> reporter: the intercounty connector was built to relieve traffic congestion. but on the one-year anniversary, how much is the icc really being used. >> i used it once or twice, but i would rather use the 95 because it's cheaper. i think the tolls are too high for the distance that i need to travel.

>> reporter: montgomery county councilman phil andrews proposes cutting the icc foal in half for a trial period of at least a year. >> cut it in half in hopes of doubling the traffic and produce the same amount of revenue but twice the use and help get cars off of other roads and make the icc an effective road in terms of how many people use it. >> reporter: we drove the entire 18-mile icc midday and found only a few vehicles using the three lanes in each direction between gaithersburg and laurel. >> i use it, but not often, because it's expensive. i normally have to -- if i go anywhere, i take the beltway. >> would you use the icc if the toll was less? >> yes, i would. >> reporter: the icc can koshlt up to $8 a day round trip at rush hour. >> i think in a week's time, i spend $35, $40 on it. and i just -- i don't think it's right. >> reporter: the maryland transportation authority said tolls are at the low end of the

range that's been authorized. and issued this statement. the icc overall is meeting both traffic and revenue projections. the toll highway was designed for anticipated traffic volumes in 2030. there are some people who say there's more than enough traffic on the icc. the residents who live alongside the concrete walls that are supposed to be noiseproof, they tell me they can hear every car, truck and motorcycle. and tell the difference. the only thing they can't tell, they say, is the color. chris gordon, news4. right now, police in prince george's county are trying to determine whether a murdered teenager was part of a gang. 14-year-old reyes was shot to death early this morning in a drive-by. >> prince george's county still doesn't have anyone filling that seat in its state house of delegates. a judge ruled against both the contenders, tiffany austin and greg hall, who were seeking to fill that vacated 24th district seat. we caught up with hall just

moments ago. >> it's not about me. it's about giving young people an opportunity that might come behind me tomorrow. regardless of whether i'm greg hall the delegate or not, i need to push forward and serve my community. >> the judge ruled governor o'malley should nominate someone for that seat. police are looking for someone who tried to blast their way into an atm machine in fredericksburg, virginia. an employee at the credit union found damage to the cash machine there this morning. police say surveillance video shows somebody planted an explosive at about 4:00 this morning. but it wasn't enough to break open the atm. there is a renewed push in virginia tonight to change the laws when it comes to texting and driving. police need another reason to pull you over. texting while driving is a secondary offense. adam tuss explains how one local county is getting around the rules to hand out more tickets and stop the dangerous and growing problem.

>> reporter: you don't have to be out on the roads long to see it. drivers texting. some even cruising down the interstate at high speeds. we saw this driver rolling along at 60 miles per hour today. he just kept rolling, and rolling, and about 20 seconds later put down the phone. here in fairfax county, police have been using a law called failure to pay full-time attention to pull over drivers who are texting, or are distracted behind the wheel. >> not a day goes by that people don't notice other drivers texting while driving. and our officers are doing what they can to enforce this. >> reporter: and she tells news4 these kinds of violations have skyrocketed. in 2009, about 7,000 offenses. in 2010, over 9,000. last year, and this year, close to 12,000 offenses. here in virginia, a number of bills are being drawn up that would make the penalties for texting and driving tougher. the problem is that in the commonwealth, texting and driving is a secondary offense,

meaning you can't be pulled over just for texting alone. 19-year-old kyle was killed a year and a half ago because of an apparent texting and driving case. his car broke down, kyle got out to push, he was then hit. records show the driver who hit him was on his phone. >> he was texting. it's not looking at the roadway while you're driving a car which turns into a weapon. >> reporter: because of the complicated way the virginia law is written, the driver was not charged with texting while driving. drivers do know the dangers, but some still admit to doing it. >> you admit you have been an offender? >> yeah, i do. but i try to do it at the stop lights and things like that, not while i'm actually in motion. >> reporter: in tysons corner, adam tuss, news4. >> here are the texting rules in the district and maryland. in maryland, it's a $70 fine. one point on your license. it contributes to an accident in maryland, the fine goes up to $110, and you get three points.

in d.c., get caught, you get a ticket for $100. texting while driving is a primary offense in both those jurisdictions. a judge has ordered a woman in fairfax county to remove part of her negative online review of a home contractor. jackie bensen reports now, the case is only just beginning. >> a preliminary injunction is a substantial measure. they're not granted willy-nilly. >> reporter: lawyers for the contractor consider the judge's ruling a victory. >> one of the requirements that must be shown is that there's a substantial likelihood of prevailing. >> she had testified about problems. >> reporter: attorney james bacon displayed page after page of what his client's claims were botched repairs at her townhouse in the summer of 2011. they include this toilet seal, this door hinge, what are said to be numerous pits of hair and dirt in a refinished floor, damaged window sills and trash

left behind. jane perez posted negative reviews about contractor christopher dietz on yelp and angie's list. she also stated that some of her jewelry went missing, and that dietz had the only other key to her house. dietz took her to court, claiming the reviews damaged his business. >> people have the right to write a review that is honest and truthful. if it's negative, but it's true, that's fair. but when it's negative and untrue, that's not fair. >> reporter: after a three-hour hearing for a temporary injunction at the fairfax county courthouse, the judge said he felt the missing jewelry comments unfairly implied dietz was a thief, and ordered them removed from existing web reviews and not mentioned further. perez chose not to talk afterward. >> if we need to, we will appeal to make sure that people are not afraid to speak out. >> reporter: the yelp review has already been pulled. a date for the defamation twil

has not been set. jackie bensen, news4. >> dietz is looking for $750,000 for the claims that he says have cost him a lot of business. maryland casinos cashed in more than $43 million last month. the state's lottery and gaming control agency says most of that money from maryland and anne arundel county. it opened in june and made more than $34 million last month alone. total revenue from the state's other casinos was down compared to year. maryland voters did pass question 7 in november. that paved the way for table games next year and a new casino in prince george's county to be opened in 2016. coming up tonight, a warning for parents about a recliner for newborns, and the deadly consequences. a major development in the battle against breast cancer and a certain drug.

yeah, we're going to tell you how dogs are said to be, anyhow, learning to drive. veronica? >> serious as we get cold again tonight. take a look at the forecast for maryland overnight. 46 to 38 already before midnight. down to 30 by tomorrow morning. down to 30 by tomorrow morning. from coats to um brbrellaumbr

♪ ♪ no two people have the same financial goals. pnc works with you to understand yours and help plan for your retirement. visit a branch or call now for your personal retirement review.

news4 y"news4 your health," there's evidence that patients who take tamoxifen for a long period of time live longer. it's been extremely effective in treating breast cancer and most patients stay on it for five years. there's new research that shows women who took it for ten years did much better. this comes from a long awaited clinical trial at the university of oxford. and the death rate was lower among women who took tamoxifen for ten years. the recurrence rate, also lower. there are known side effects with tamoxifen, but researchers say the benefits outweigh those risks. >> i think the atlas trials will give thought as to how long to give tamoxifen, especially for our pre-menopausal patients who have a high risk of recurrence, who may from this data benefit from longer than five years of

anti-estrogen therapy. >> but should breast cancer patients be taking this drug for a decade? "nbc nightly news" with brian williams will have more on this story. that's coming up in just a few minutes at 7:00. the federal government is cracking down on the makers of a baby recliner. the consumer product safety commission said it's been connected to at least five deaths. there have been dozens of other complaints of children hanging or falling out of the devices. two earlier versions were recalled back in 2010. now the cpsc wants baby matters to give customers a full refund on the newest model. the company says it is not selling that recliner anymore. a composer, a musician, ambassador if you will who stretched the bound ris of jazz has died. dave brubeck would have turned 92 years old tomorrow.

♪ quartet released the classic "take five" back in 1959. that is not "take five." the album "time-out" was the first jazz album to explore that particular tempo in music. it is quite complex. brubeck became the first jazz musician to be featured on the cover of "time" magazine. that bothered him, though, because he figured that duke ellington should have been on that magazine cover. brubeck was also named a kennedy center honoree on his 89th birthday. an iraqi veteran in maryland is going to have a brighter christmas, and get a sense of what it's like to be neighborly. jeff lopez, one of the last u.s. soldiers to return home from iraq, a crew began putting up holiday lights on every corner of his home today. a man in his community donated the decorations and the labor

and sergeant lopez says it feels good. he feels appreciated. his wife says the lights will help make it a christmas to be remembered. we matter on this sport scenes, don't we. >> you know, it's a big game when you're there. >> i wouldn't say that. but it did turn out well. >> did you have fun? >> oh, my god, that was huge. >> that was a fun game to watch. everybody noticed the wizards last night. all over the nba. and who do you think will be the key to victory? somebody who maybe isn't even on the team. as news4 at 6:00 continues.

time to drag the coats back out of your back seat or wherever you threw them the last couple of days. right now we're at 53 degrees. we'll head down to the 20s and low to mid-30s by tomorrow morning. it's been a little breezy out there. even gusty at times today. but the wind will continue to settle on down. and it's going to be pretty light by tomorrow morning. 50s here. 30s up to the north. pittsburgh, state college, all now at 34. very cold degrees. we've got the clearing sky that's moved our way, under high pressure. so it's high pressure for tomorrow. we're going to go from a chilly evening to sunshine. and while you think that we might warm up quickly tomorrow, we're only going to get up to a high of about 48 degrees. that will be below average for tomorrow. i'm calling it a cold day.

in fact, a cold, very much december-like day. for thursday night, we're going to have just a few clouds coming through. but still pretty and starry. as we get through the day on friday, a lot more in the way of cloud cover with the next front coming in. maybe even a few sprinkles or light showers. but your best bet on rain will be after midnight, early saturday morning. by the time we get to 6:00 a.m. saturday, most of that rain with the front that will stall out this weekend, most of it is going to be off the coast. saturday now, we could even salvage and make for a decent day, because it's going to be the warmest day out of the weekend. no warmth tomorrow. we're at 45 to 47 degrees. get a load of the forecast here. cold with our next chance of rain coming this weekend. if you've been missing doug kammerer, he will be out at the ellipse tomorrow for the national tree lighting ceremony. that's right, starting at 5:00. the forecast, 42. it will be crisp. and of course, it will be

without snow. back to you. >> when they light that tree, it is always cold outside for some reason or another. might be 70 the day before. here's the deal. when they put -- when rg3 showed up at the wizards game last night, i was there with our boss, with jackie. you know what her comment was? oh, look there's rg3. put him in. the now, the deal is, i wouldn't be surprised considering his skills that he might have contributed. but they didn't need him last night. >> that was an amazing -- you know what, rg3 played basketball. and he wanted to be michael jordan. and his dad made him do the left-handed layups, and he went to football. you know who loves redskins these days? vegas. do you know vegas has the 6-6 skins as three-point favorites over the 9-3 ravens on sunday. that is a fact, folks. main reason, clearly, rg3. robert griffin, his jersey and

cleats headed to the hall after he broke the rookie rushing record for quarterbacks. right now he has 714 yards this season. michael vick has the single season record at 1,039 set back in 2006. that is one record that we don't need to see broken. we like to see griffin run, just not getting hit like vick has been throughout much of his career. this has given the skins some punch. the number one rushing attack in the entire nfl. the ravens are the latest team that will have to try to find a way to stop this unique offense. piloted by rg3. >> a, man. he's a great quarterback. he's one of the best in the business. i think we have a great look this week, a great game plan. cutting back on my snacks. you know, doing the extra running. we'll run the field. we're excited to play against them. he's a competitor. the guy's a winner.

anytime you play against a guy like that, it's always fun. >> they bring it physically every game. they've always had great personnel. and ed reed is a top of that defense. you know, with ray lewis out, he's the leader of that defense. he does a good job with everything. he covers a lot of ground, he tackles well, got good ball skills. it's nothing to fear. you definitely have to be aware of where he's at. >> another injury for the wizards, folks. trevor arisa could miss all of december with a calf strain. he was hurt last night in the win over the heat. yes, the wizards led by price. maybe it wasn't a fluke. lebron and the heat had actually lost two straight to the wizards entering last night's game. what did the wiz do really well? vance could probably tell you all about this. but they shared the ball. >> there you go. >> 31 assists on 38 made

baskets, including this big one late in the game by jordan crawford. he had a team high 22 points. lebron just couldn't get it going. at least late in the game. he did have a triple-double. but he missed some crucial threes. the wizards hang on for the w, 105- 105-101 the final. the third straight win over the heat. >> i told the guys, right now, the only people, maybe your families, the only people that really think you have a chance tonight, is us here right in this room. you know, you guys don't, the outside didn't, and i said, we need to have a statement game. we haven't had a statement game. i said, what better opportunity to come and play in front of the fans that we knew was going to be here, and to beat this team. >> when you have a record like ours, nobody's going to give you a chance. we never lose faith in ourselves and what we're capable of doing. we showed we're capable of

competing with the best teams. >> that's the man that everybody was watching. robert griffin iii among a slew of redskins at the game last night. as you might imagine, nobody in the entire building garnered as much attention as the skins rookie quarterback. many speculated rg3's unicorn-like powers rubbed off on the wizards. >> just say thank you. i don't know. what can you say. those guys are the ones that played, i didn't play the game. but even coach said i can't be going over there and rubbing off, use it on my magic on those guys when we need it for us. it is what it is. it was fun to be there. i'm glad they won. >> all right. talking georgetown now. georgetown's basketball team rolling, as we know. the 15th ranked hoyas six and one after crushing texas last night. the hoyas men's soccer team, first appearance in the college cup. otherwise known as the soccer final four. the hoyas playing maryland on

friday. going down to alabama to play maryland. couldn't they just have the game here? they beat san diego on saturday. so this is a new experience. prior to the season, georgetown has never made it past the sweet 16. now they're two wins away from a national title. >> it's very exciting. it's definitely an honor to be a part of this. making history here. came here four years ago. and it was a long reach to get there, but definitely wasn't out of the picture. now it's going to be an expectation and something we've created here. >> making this run in the tournaments, it's over our expectations. we've known that we had the team to do it. we didn't get the recognition the beginning of the year. we weren't even ranked in the top 25. to do it for these fans, and for the program, it's been unbelievable. the odds, by the way, not on georgetown's side. hoyas 0-27 all-time against the terps. one final note,ing sean

burnett, a good pitcher for them for three and a half years, has agreed to a two-year contract with the angels. sean burnett no longer with the nationals. you can't keep everybody. >> why do they call him the vulture? does he eat dead things? >> he eats up innings, batters. >> okay. got you. i always wondered about that. >> doesn't eat dead things. >> appreciate the information. coming up next, dogs driving.

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it's getting chilly out there now. >> for sure. because today, we managed okay. in the 50s. but now for your evening, chilly. and then cold by tomorrow morning. 39 to 46. those are your evening temps. there will still be a little bit of wind hanging on. tomorrow morning, look at that, way below freezing so many spots. it's been over a week since we've had temps that have been as low as what we're going to see tomorrow. just 47 degrees for a high temperature. and that's with sunshine everywhere. so the chill stays with us tomorrow. even a little on friday.

54 the high. this weekend, rain to deal with. especially early on saturday. but i think it will be mild enough it's not going to be a completely lousy weekend. >> thanks, veronica. dog handlers over in new zealand say they have trained three dogs to drive cars. the dogs are named monty, jimmy and porter. for two months, they trained indoors on how to change gears, to brake, and to steer. finally, the trainers allowed the dogs to get behind the wheel of a real car. and they did it on live tv. with a little bit of help from the humans. the dogs were able to put the car in gear, operate the accelerator and start driving. they can even steer on command. the trainers say they simply created a series of instinctive behaviors for the dogs to learn. but it did take a while, they say, for the dogs to get an idea of what was actually happening. i'm not sure they ever did. but anyway, the project was

sponsored by the spca in new zealand. they wanted to prove dogs can do anything. we don't suppose we'll see